The mountain of muscle standing above Ma’Z was dressed simply in a form fitting tank top and jeans. Ma’Z, however, found his attention drawn to the impossible shine coming off of his bald head, but didn’t want to risk pissing him off further with an ill-timed quip.
Despite that, his threat had the intended effect as murmurs started to arise amongst the crowd at the mention of assassination. The way the conversations were going, it occurred to him that while they knew full well about the bounty, none of these people had any idea what was actually going on.
Opting to use their confusion to his advantage he said, “So, is this really a hill you’re willing to die on?”
He looked pointedly at the large man in front of him whose initial rage had fallen to a sneer.
“Fine, let’s start at square one,” Ma’Z said. “Did I kill those guys? Yes. Yes, I did.”
A new wave of chatter began to rise within the crowd once again. Ma’Z could see a few head nods here and there along with the occasional glance in his direction. Ma’Z wasn’t the best when it came to reading a room, but he didn’t get the sense that there was much open hostility towards him, and banked his assumption on the fact that the tall guy had called Heaven some kind of valkyrie.
He glanced in her direction to see she was still seated with her elbow propped up on the table, head in hand. Ma’Z knew that look well enough to know all of her rage was pointed directly between his eyes.
Deciding to ditch the tough guy act, Ma’Z silently took a deep breath and said, “So, I know about the bounty. I know that someone out there put a pretty large sum of money on the table to report my whereabouts. So, if I had to guess, no small few of you have already done so. Is that money going to be split amongst you? Do you even care to know why I killed them?”
The big man started to speak, but Ma’Z put his hand up and shook his head. “Don’t,” he said, soberly. “I can already tell that if you were going to start a fight, you would’ve swung already. But if you would be so kind, allow me to explain a few things.”
The large man’s face lost even more of its original sneer as he took a step back. Ma’Z took that as a sign that he was at least willing to listen now.
As if in silent agreement, the rest of the crowd had gone quiet as well.
“Let me start by saying that this is my literal third day in the game. Just three,” he said, holding up three fingers. “You can verify it. Now, I only came here to race. Heaven here, convinced me that it was nothing like what we had back in the real, and from what I saw yesterday, she woefully understated just how vastly different that was.
“So I have to ask, why would a guy, who knows practically nobody, would come out of a library and just randomly attack two higher tiered individuals? What kind of contract could some offer me to essentially commit suicide, knowing we only get three lives?
“Heaven is a reaper. I believe everyone in this room is keenly aware of this. When those two dipshits tried to assassinate me, they made it clear that it was because she RD’d one of theirs and they were just ‘getting even.’ So I have to ask the obvious question, why did they cross her path in the first place?”
A few nods were passed around, but the tall man was shaking his head. “Nah, I’ve seen the devastation you left. Not sure if you had an accomplice, but the amount of damage you did to that place wasn’t left by some novice. You really expect me to believe you killed them by yourself?” he said.
“I have witnesses,” Ma’Z shrugged. “But that didn’t answer my question.”
“Red light, Ma’Z. Our food should be done in a minute, and I really don’t want to waste time arguing with people who I’m probably going to kill later,” Heaven said, still resting her head in her hand.
Her barefaced threat caused no small few to reflexively recoil in fear, which only made Heaven roll her eyes.
“Look, you idiots did your jobs. You called it in, right? Whoever’s intending to come knock us off should be well on their way, so your job’s done. Now, I would like to eat my food before we get down to business. Or is that going to be a problem?” she said.
Ma’Z recognized the mode shift, and mentally said a silent prayer for everyone present. He passed one last look at the guy who started all of this, who returned his gaze before looking in Heaven’s direction and thinking better of doing whatever he had planned.
Without protest, he walked away.
Taking his cue, he took his seat next to her, and began to summon his dark servant into his shadow. Don’t suppose you have a better plan that I did… ‘cause I didn’t have one, Ma’Z sent to Heaven.
Ma’Z noticed her stiffen ever so briefly before she looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. We’ll be fine. I’ve already got an idea of who might be involved, but I doubt we’ll be seeing any action. This sphere is pretty strict about unsanctioned violence, she thought back.
“What sphere is this anyway?” Ma’Z said.
“Valor. It’s run by Baroness Bellona. She happened to be a huge fan of racing and combat activities, but hates anything that happens without going through the proper channels. The Renbaan was the perfect compromise. It allowed us to exercise our more aggressive behaviors while generating a ton of revenue for the sphere. Which, by the way, the Baroness loves more than anything.”
“Shrewd lady. So all of that just now was posturing and stall tactics?”
“Essentially, but it was also as you correctly surmised, a lot of people were curious about the huge sum of money without knowing the specifics as to why. I can imagine a few of them are looking into it now.”
“And the big guy?”
“Apophus. He’s part of a rival fraternity. Like us, they take contracts to take care of people accused of killing other players, but are far less diligent when it comes to confirming whether the accusations are even true. Their willingness to kill with no questions asked hasn’t done much to put them in good standing within the community, but they don’t seem to care either. Unsurprisingly, no small few of them like to participate in the circuits. Apophus is one of them.”
Ma’Z stared at the retreating figure as he nodded to a few members within the crowd and they all got up to leave. As he stepped out of the restaurant, Apophus glanced back in Ma’Z’s direction before nodding his head with a slight smirk and disappearing.
Ma’Z couldn’t help but feel like the milk-chocolate behemoth had played him, but before he could give it any real thought, Voltaire returned, looking somewhat relieved that things hadn’t escalated after they were called out.
“Thank the Goddess you were able to talk him down,” he said. “Apop and his crew aren’t usually known for letting things slide. My only guess is that it’s because the contract only called for us to phone it in, and not directly engage.”
Heaven shrugged, grabbing hold of the rock chicken on her plate. Visually, it looked exactly like what Ma’Z expected of a chicken if it were covered in rock.
“Probably,” Heaven said. “But what’s done is done. All I want to think about now is digging into this succulent morsel of chicken goodness.”
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Not wanting to waste another second, Heaven grabbed a piece, while pressing both thumbs into the rock chicken’s shell. The carapace snapped with an audible pop, spilling juice all over her pasta, while Heaven let out an audible sigh of satisfaction.
She then drizzled the chicken juice over her plate before pulling out the bits of chicken meat and mixing it in with the shell-shaped noodles.
Ma’Z glanced down at his own, where a fish head he didn’t recognize stared back at him.
“Look and behold my visage, for it could’ve done without a fish face staring back at it,” he sulked.
His lamentation drew a laugh from Heaven, followed by a barely concealed snort from Voltaire.
“Both of y’all can suck it,” Ma’Z said, digging into the dish.
Heaven raised a questioning eyebrow, which Ma’Z answered in kind with a surprised pair of his own.
“Oh my god. Ok, it’s ugly as fuck, but this is delicious,” he said.
His outburst started another round of laughter from the trio, before the door burst open, followed by a group of men quickly filing into the restaurant.
The way they were dressed, they looked like a military outfit, their style heavily inspired by earth design. As each one entered the building, they took up positions on either side of the door, quickly filling the room.
The few patrons that were left stopped what they were doing, taking in the spectacle, fully aware that whatever it was had nothing to do with them.
Ma’Z turned to Heaven, who had returned to eating her food. After she finished chewing, she looked up at Ma’Z and said, “Better eat that before it gets cold. That fish starts to taste funny once it cools off, and trust me, you don’t want to reheat it.”
“Should I remind you that I’m three days old?” Ma’Z said.
“Should I remind you that I’m much, much older?” Heaven shot back.
“Point.”
With a shrug, Ma’Z turned back to his food and took another bite.
Hey, Voltaire. If I was you, I’d probably be making my exit about now, Ma’Z sent to the nervous waiter.
Voltaire jumped with a yelp, before looking down at Ma’Z, who was now eating his meal. Before he could leave, however, a large man entered the restaurant. Just the sheer height of the man forced him to duck in order to clear the doorframe.
Ma’Z recognized his Mekaloid body almost immediately. Considered a cousin to Helios Children, who were built to wield magic, Mekaloids were a race of androids almost exclusively built for physical combat.
The ninety-eight-inch-tall leader wore a similar outfit to the rest of his crew, which bore an insignia he didn’t recognize. From his sculpted face down to his broad muscular frame, he struck an impressive figure.
The soldiers on either side, in their gray shaded fatigues, stood stock still without so much as a sway, making Ma’Z wonder if they were also Mekaloids, or maybe a mix of Mekaloid and Helios. It didn’t help that all of them wore visored helmets over their faces.
“I believe you know why I’ve come?” the man said.
The pair responded with the sound of their forks digging into their plates. With each bite, each dig became slightly more forced, slightly faster, turning into something of an unspoken competition as they chewed less and less, swallowing by the mouthful.
Ma’Z didn’t need his telepathy to know Heaven just wanted to finish her food.
She hated wasting food.
Unfortunately for him, he was just competitive, and got swept up in the flow of her eating.
The man standing in the doorway stood imperiously, at first, but after the first thirty seconds had passed and they were in full swing shoveling food into their face, he had enough.
“Never mind. Shoot them,” he ordered.
Hearing that, Ma’Z was getting ready to touch his shadow when Heaven swallowed the last bite and exclaimed triumphantly upon finishing first.
Gunfire erupted immediately, but Heaven held Ma’Z still as their bullets slammed uselessly against a shield that had formed around their table.
“Special seating babe. VIP’s get the good skat. Expedited food service, limitless drinks, and…” she paused, pointing at the shield, “Erzalis grade defenses.”
“Why are they still shooting then?”
“Trying to overwhelm the shield, and to unnerve us,” she said. “It’s fine though. We’re fine. Me and ol’ Seth over there got a bit of a rivalry. If the shield is still standing when they finish firing, we’re good to go.”
“That’s uh- That’s quite a bit of trust you got there, Miss Lumen,” Voltaire said.
Heaven looked up, gazing at Voltaire with a small bit of sympathy.
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I got insurance,” Heaven said.
“Well, not that I doubt you or anything, but I have to admit I’m not normally staring at a wall of bullets during my hunts,” Voltaire said.
“Oh? Do you often hunt players, Voltaire?”
“Wait. What? No!” Voltaire said quickly. “I usually do dungeon clears and gather parts. I have no desire for PvP whatsoever.”
“Smart man, Voltaire. You’re going to share the take from that bounty though, aren’t you?”
“I uh-” Voltaire started to say before Heaven turned her attention directly towards him.
Ma’Z was doing his best to listen to their conversation, but the display of sparks and bullets crashing against their shield had his rapt attention. At the mention of splitting the bounty, however, his head quickly turned on a swivel, the realization of betrayal hitting him in the same instant.
“Wait. You pulled a Brutus on us? I thought we were brothers,” Ma’Z said.
“Nah, jone, it’s not like that! I mean, it is, but it’s not what you think it is, either. Me and Seth aren’t part of the same guild, but we frequently clear dungeons together.”
“You call this working together?” Ma’Z asked, pointing at their present predicament.
“Ma’Z, I’m telling you, it’s ok. Me and Seth go-”
An explosion rocked the restaurant as the front wall blew inward and another group rushed in. Instead of a sustained barrage of bullets, however, this group came with a more combustible solution. A sudden cacophony of detonations rocked the shield, and for the first time, cracks began to appear.
Seth and his group never stopped firing.
Realizing they overstayed their welcome, whatever players were still in attendance bolted for the kitchens, raising whatever defensive spells and abilities they could to protect themselves.
Through the sea of fire, explosives and fleeing bodies, Heaven’s expression quickly shifted from slightly amused to very displeased.
With a click of her tongue, she said, “Now that is a problem. First, the bimbles, and now he sends another cleanup crew as if I wouldn’t recognize his handiwork.”
The two men looked at Heaven, who sat back in her chair pulling out one item after another.
First, she brought out a pair of devices that Ma’Z recognized as energy shields. Second, were several small coins, then finally an æther ampoule.
“What’s all of that?” Ma’Z said.
“Second insurance,” she said.
“Then where’s the first,” Voltaire asked.
“Just make sure you have my money, buddy,” Heaven said.
“I think I’m going to want a cut too. This is the second time today I’ve been stabbed in the back, and I still don’t have a gun to defend myself with,” Ma’Z said.
“But you killed those guys,” Voltaire said.
“Man, they stabbed me in the back, burned me from head to toe and blamed all of it on Heaven. My ass was collateral damage to their true goal. Her. So, fuck yeah I killed them, but it was only due to special circumstances that I was able to pull it off.”
“Wait, so all of this is the result of someone’s grudge?”
“That surprises you? I RD’d a group of riders who openly declared enchesne. Then the fools tried to smear us, and now this.”
“Enchesne?” Ma’Z asked.
“Basically calling for a battle to the death,” Heaven clarified.
“Oh, isn’t that a big deal?”
“Yes. Often, the only times anyone calls for enchesne is to settle what they perceive as an unforgivable offense. Rarely anyone agrees to it, but it’s even rarer that they get to walk away once it’s been said. Almost always, someone dies.”
“Oh Goddess, what have I done,” Voltaire said, horrified.
“Made me a lot of money, is what you did,” Heaven said.
“Money? They’re about to break through any second now.”
“No, you ignorant yautshi, I said I had insurance.”
It was impossible to make out anything beyond flying debris as furniture and stone tile flooring got thrown about with the exploding shells and bullet fire. The unceasing din was the perfect cover for a hulking figure with a claymore to walk up on the closest figure in the blown out wall and snap his neck.
Beside him, more figures filed through, each taking a single target each, necks snapped, and one less explosive threatening to shatter the shields.
Seth took notice almost immediately and ordered his men to cease fire.
In less than a few seconds, the assault was over, and as soon as the dust was clear, Ma’Z immediately recognized who saved them.
Stepping to the front of the group, a Niflen in a black leather jacket with red stripes strode forward, locking eyes with Ma’Z and said, “I accept your terms Reaper. Now if you would be so kind as to sign on the dotted line.”